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Madly uneven, more so than the mediocre 2012 hit that made half a billion worldwide, this sequel is an easy predictive call. If you got your laughs out of "Ted," you'll likely come crawling back for "Ted 2." It's not the same film, but it's close to it.

The movie opens with an absurdly lavish musical credit sequence set to Irving Berlin's "Steppin' Out with My Baby" that steals from Fred Astaire and the Nicholas Brothers. (Broadway verteran Rob Ashford choreographed it beautifully.) Ted the magical talking teddy bear is celebrating his marriage to the woman he calls his "Bawston hoor," played by gum-chewing Jessica Barth. John, played by Wahlberg, married Mila Kunis' blandly tolerant female lead in the first "Ted," but that union has been severed. Now John is alone, depressed and addicted to porn.

Ted's marriage to his fellow grocery store cashier sours as well until the genital-free plush toy and his bride decide to have a baby. With full sincerity, "Ted 2" believes in Ted's own line: With a kid in an unhappy home, "it'll teach us to love each other again." Works every time.

The serious bits in "Ted 2" relate to Ted being denied his basic civil rights when the courts declare him to be property, not human. (Parallels to slavery and America's history of prejudice and intolerance are drawn throughout the film.) Ted's marriage is annulled, and he loses his job. It's up to a fledgling lawyer (Amanda Seyfried, introduced lighting up a bong) to right the wrongs.

I laughed three or four times, mostly at verbal byplay. Director MacFarlane struggles when it comes to timing, filming and cutting sight gags, many of them (including the accident at the fertility clinic) straight out of his TV cash cow "Family Guy." There's a riff on F. Scott Fitzgerald that works mysteriously well. The Liam Neeson cameo does, too. A lyric interlude, featuring Seyfried singing an original tune ("Mean Ol' Moon") written by MacFarlane and composer Walter Murphy resurrects the old joke about woodland creatures cooing over the female protagonist's musical charms: When the lobster rolls up with the raccoon and the fawn, it's just stupid enough to click.

The rest of the movie? What I said three years ago about the formula in "Ted" goes for "Ted 2": MacFarlane's career is built on "a high quotient of startlingly crude ethnic and cultural stereotypes leavened by a sincere appreciation for American popular music of another era." I've seen worse comedies this year, and I'll see better.